Future Internet Games Competition Launched By Disney & Abertay

The Future Internet Games Competition launched today. Created by Disney and the Future Internet Consortium partners, in association with Abertay University, the competition is looking for experimental pervasive games that enable large groups of people to play together in the real world.

Ideas for games making use of technologies such as augmented reality, blending real and virtual worlds, and city-wide play will be judged by a panel of experts from the Europe-wide Future Internet Content initiative.

The project is Disney-led, and involves major European and global companies and research centres. They have joined their skills to drive innovation at in content, media, networks and creativity.

Entries are open until until 10/06/2014. There is a £2000 prize for the winning web or mobile game – and opportunities to work with the Disney-led consortium.

The competition is open to individuals and teams. Entrants keep all of the intellectual property they generate.

The partnership between Abertay University and FI Content is to focus on the Pervasive Games platform, where the real world and internet experiences are playfully mixed together.

The platform focuses on multiplayer mobile gaming, using cutting-edge internet technology to enable large groups of people to play together. It accelerates games beyond the usual playing-on-a-console-at-home or interacting with friends remotely through social gaming.

The competition invites game developers to think about how mobile games can be an augmented version of the real world, offering play between real people that creates something more exciting and interactive for everyone.

Consumer Products: augmented-reality games based on toys, fashion, and other connected, digitally enhanced physical products.

Location-Based Installations: games developed in an installation such as a historic monument in which connected, cooperative game experiences are used to make the visit more compelling.

City-wide Games: games in which larger numbers of players interact in unstructured environments.

Professor Kenny Mitchell, Research Lead at Disney Research, said:

This is an excellent opportunity for budding game developers and veterans alike across Europe to show their skills on a highly visible and important stage as part of our Future Internet Content project.

Abertay University is delighted to work with Disney on the Future Internet Games Contest, and we look forward to seeing how game developers address this challenge. Games have incredible power to bring people together, to entertain and to change how we perceive the world around us.

Future internet technologies, and the hugely powerful smartphones everyone carries with them, offer an unprecedented opportunity for designers and programmers to build entirely new ways for large groups of people to play together in the real world.

For more information check the FAQ. To enter the competition, visit the competition webpage on the Dare to be Digital website.